Heel for footwear



Sept. 16, 1941. G. .R'. RULE ET AL HEEL FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Oct. 28, 1940 Patented Sept. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE:

Application October 28, 194i), Serial No. 363,092

6 Claims. (01. 36-34) I This invention relates to heels of footwear such as shoes, pumps or the like, and the invention is particularly applicable to the heels of ladies shoes or pumps. It is the present practice to provide a covering of thin leather or similar material for heels, and this material must :4;

edges folded over on the breast of the heel.

These folded over edges are then concealed by breasting that extends down from the under side of the sole at the shank, to the bottom lift of the heel.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a heel with a covering which can be readily applied, and which will be highly resistant to scuffing or injury when the wearer walks over gravel, or along a pathway which might tend to injure the covering for the surface of the heel.

More specifically stated, the invention involves the use of a covering material in cord form, that is wrapped around the body of the heel so as to form a covering for it. This cord material is of course applied to the body of the heel before the heel is secured to the shoe or pump. My improvement may be applied to various styles of heels. Some heels have a forwardly projecting lip or shank tongue which substantially aligns with the out sole, for connection to the same.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a disposition for the coils of the cord, which will enable the same to substantially cover a forwardly projecting tongue on the heel; also to provide a disposition of the upper coils at the rear and upper end of the heel, which will enable the coils at this point to maintain substantial parallelism with the lower coils.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heel having a covering which readily lends itself to the presentation of any desired color scheme in the heel, and not necessarily including a uniform color for the entire heel.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinafter,

all of which contribute to produce anrflicient heel for footwear.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in'the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

Inthe drawing:

Fig.1 is a side elevation of a ladys pump having'a high heel embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the upper portion of a heel embodying our invention, and representing thesame unattached to the body of the pump. 7

Fig. 3 is'a plan of the heel illustrated inFig 2, but'upon a somewhat larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken about on the line 44 ofFig. 2, and looking upwardly. Fig. 5 is a view similarto Fig.2, but'illustrat-'- ing another type .of heel to which our invention maybeapplied. T

Referring more particularly to the parts, I indicates the bodyof a shoe-or pump having a heel 2 covered in accordance with our invention. The body 3 of this heel is preferably-constructed of wood or similar material, which will adhere readilytoglue.

In practicing-the invention, we wrap the heel body with a cord material 4 that ispi'eferably disposed on the heelin substantially horizontal coils "5. Inthis 'way :a covering composed of a wrapping'of cord, is applied. to .the'heel. The

wrapping process ispreferably commenced at the bottom of the heel andfjust above the bottom lift 6. The wrapping proceeds thence in an'upward direction, disposing the coils one above the'other and touching or in close proximity to each other. I s

- Any suitable material may be used for this cord wrapping; for example, twine, wool, yarn, silk or twisted fabric. We prefer, however, to use 7- twisted tissue paper, as glue will adhere quite readily to this material, and will be'absorbed by it. In applying the cord to the body of the heel,

F when it becomes necessary to lay on another cord at the point-of contact between the ends of the two adjoining cords, we form a scarf joint or a scarf connection 1, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Under the coils of the cord as they are applied to the surface of the heel, a layer of moist glue is placed, and the coils are applied under slight tension so that they cling closely to the surface of the heel. No substantial difliculty is experienced in applying the cord to the lower portion of the heel, but at the upper portion of the heel the application of the cord must be adapted to 'lustrated in Fig. 3.

'thesecoils discontinuous, is practically necessary,

the shape of the heel so as. to substantially cover the forwardly projecting lip or shank tongue 8 of the heel (see Fig. 2). In order to cover this lip the upper coils that are located at about the level of the under side of the lip, are gluedon to the concave face at 9,'that merges the under face of the lip into the forward face or breast l of the heel. At this point these coils are applied withtransverse extensions I l which are glued to the under face of the heel, and which extend p'arallel with each other and lie againsteach other across the under side of the heel, as indicated in r Fig. 4. When a pointis reached for these coils;

that will leave a sufficient amount of the lip pro-; Y

' jecting to secure the same in the shoe, we then commence to dispose the upper coils l 2 in a somewhat different manner. In thehel 'o'f'the type 1 illustrated in Fig. 2, these uppermost coils l2 arev laid on preferably as separate pieces, with exten s'ions' l3 lying on the upperiace or he'elseat EM of the heel, and glued to the same.-;..'-Ihisis il- This 'proceduret'of making because the heel seat on the upper-face of a heel is slightly'concave, or dished. .J'In' 'Figf5 we illus 'trate another type of heel in whichthere is no concave face' merging the underside of the lip into the breast' of the heel. In thiscase 'the'lip It will be evident that the practice of this invention eliminates the necessity for the use of full breasting on a heel.

What we claim is:

1. A heel for a shoe or pump having a covering consisting of a plurality of coils of a cord extending in a general horizontal direction, adhering to the surface of the heel. I A heel for a shoe or pump'with a forwardly extending lip, said heel having a covering con-' sisting of a plurality of coils of a cord extending in a general horizontal direction adhering to the surface of the heel, said coils in the vicinity of said lip including a set of coils encircling the heel at the "rear and sides, and extending transversely on the under side of the lip.

3. A heel for a shoe or pump With a forwardly extending lip, said heel having a covering conas has a substantially flat under. 'face librojecjting out at approximately 90 'frfoma the substan:

tially vertical breast 16 of: the heel" I'L- Inlaying on the upper coils l8 in this case, that is toisa'y,

" the 'coils' that occur above the level of the under face ,I5 of the lip, these coilsare turned down pletely coverthe outer surfaceoii the 'heel,ex-

cepting for-the tip off the lip-which must be; left glued'tothe samein the 'niannerlindicated in e uncovered, wethenapply. three coats of glue to v the'outer face'of thecord coveringjallowing each i coat to dry. before. the application of :the next coat. jAfter this,'we"app1y two. coats; offshellac andtwo: coats'of' varnish, permitting each coat,

of course; toi'dry before the. application of the" nextcoat'. This glue app'liegiin thisiway', permea ates i the paperrcbrdfso: :that. the; finished cordis quite hard and durable. The shellac and varnish render the cord covering substantially waterproof. '1. In practice,

fe'rent' color, for: examplejseverali coils of one .color can be followed. by several :co'ilsjof a contrasting color. In thisway incidental attractive 'colorrscheznes can beproduced in theheels;

if variegated colorreffects are .der V sirednthiscan be attained by. using. cordsiof dif; p0

sisting of a plurality of coils of a cord extend ing in a general horizontal direction adhering to the surface of the heel, said coils in the vicinity of said lip including a set of coils encirclingthe heel at the rear and sides, and extending trans-I vers'ely on the under side of the lip; and including other coils above the said set 01 coils encircling the heel at its rear and sides, and havingexten sions lying on the upper face of the heel and se: cured thereto. '4. A heel for. a shoe or pump with a forwardly extending lip, said heel having a covering consisting of a plurality of coils of a cord extending in a general horizontal direction adhering'to the 7 surface of the heel, said coils in the; vicinity of said lip. including a set of coils encircling theheel at the rear and sides, and extending transversely on the'under side of the lip; and includingiotheif coils above the said set of coils encircling-the heel at its rear and sides, and having their ends lying on the heel seat and secured thereto by adhesive; 7 I 5, A heel for a shoe or pump witha forwardly extending lip, said heel having a covering'com sisting of a plurality oi coils of a cordextending in a general horizontal direction adhering to the surface of: the heel, said coils in the vicinity-of lip in cludinga set of coils encircling the heel at the rear and sides, and extending transversely on the under side of the lip; and including other coils above the said set of coils encircling the heel at its rear and sides, and having their ends lying on the heelseat and secured thereto by adhesive,

said coils having scarf joints at points where the ends oftwo cords abut against each other..

6. Aheel fora shoe or pump having *a cover- -ing consisting of a plurality of coils of cord ex tending in a general-horizontal. direction,'vlith glue securing thesam-eto the surface, of thefheel, V

havingacoating of glue applied tothe coils after the-same have: beenv securednto the heel; and

having a; coating of shellac and 'accating of. varnish-applied on the outer side of the shellac coating. 7

- 1 GEORGE R; RULE ALICE N. RULE; 

